Wondering what all the fuss is about? Gardening in raised beds comes with plenty of benefits—both for you and your garden. #1 Better Soil, Fewer Stones, More Control For many of us, the soil in our yards simply isn’t up to snuff for gardening. It might be full of roots and rocks that interfere with...
By Hannah Van Sickle Already dreading winter and the piles of snow that will inevitably accumulate in the coming months? Tackling a fall to-do list between now and the end of November–the kind professional landscapers employ to prepare their own outdoor living space for winter–is the smartest and easiest way to ensure your landscape is...
By Robin Catalano Photo Credit: The Mount Say the name Edith Wharton, and classic American novels like Ethan Frome, The Age of Innocence, and The House of Mirth come to mind. But for gardeners and nature lovers, Wharton’s name evokes a different kind of reverence, for the stunning gardens the author—also a talented interior and landscape designer—created in 1901...
By Robin Catalano You’ve probably read that in the Berkshires and surrounding areas, if you don’t start your garden by Memorial Day, it’s a lost cause. But nothing could be farther from the truth! In fact, there are plenty of crops that grow better when sown from seeds in July, well after the threat of...
By Za Drumm Most everyone is familiar with the common garden vegetable, the squash, and if you have a vegetable garden in New England, the chances that you regularly grow your own is quite high. Highly adapted to this region over thousands of years, an obvious choice in any garden. Squash has been grown in...
Permaculture is a contraction of both “permanent culture” and “permanent agriculture”. The phrase was coined by two Australians, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, in the late 1970s. Inspired by observations in nature and in indigenous cultures, the two began forming a set of principles; believing they could create a system functioning in as much a...
Winter signifies an important time of the year if you’re a vegetable gardener or small farmer. Seed catalog season is well upon us and it’s not too late to plan and let the anticipation of this coming seasons planting and harvesting begin. Not only is gardening an enjoyable activity for most of us, but growing your own food...
Most would agree that a great lawn is thick, green and easy to care for. The controversy starts when you add the words “weed free”. What is a weed? Generally defined as “a wild plant growing where it is not wanted”. Makes sense and certainly applicable to many plants found in the cultivated landscape with...
As we begin our twelfth season offering Organic Lawn Care to our clients, I’m reminded of the importance of avoiding using toxic chemical lawn fertilizers and pesticides in our homes’ landscapes. “Of the 36 most commonly used lawn pesticides: 14 are probable or possible carcinogens, 15 are linked with birth defects, 21 with reproductive effects,...
